Don't Let Me Go
by chocokat13
Summary: Eli is perfectly happy with shutting out the world and talking only to the 'spirit' of his dead ex-girlfriend. But will a blue-eyed beauty come along and change all of that, forcing him to choose between his mind and his heart?
1. Chapter 1

**So! New fanfic! I got the idea for this a few days ago, and I managed to type up the first chapter while the idea was still fresh in my head. I don't know how good it is; I feel like it may be a bit rushed, and the ending is a little bit bland because I realized I was just dragging it out and really had no idea what I was writing. Anyway, I hope my negativity and criticism of myself doesn't change your want to read the story. Ignore me and enjoy the chapter!**

Don't Let Me Go

1.

"_We were never meant to have a fairytale ending."_

The words are always swimming in his head, repeating over and over in her voice. He rolled over in his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes, willing the darkness to fall back over him so he can be thrown back into his dreamland, even though he knows he'll find her there too.

"No more sleeping, Eli," a cool voice tells him. "It's your first day as a transfer student at this school. You need to be there on time and make a good first impression."

Eli smirked to himself and moved his arm to glance at the girl lying on his bed, her elbow propped up on his pillow and her cheek resting in her palm. "Why should I care about first impressions?"

"Why shouldn't you?" the raven-haired girl asked, blinking her brown eyes.

"Because I couldn't give a fuck about what people think," he replied simply.

The girl rolled her eyes at him and jumped to her feet. "Come on! Get up!" she exclaimed, hitting his bare foot lightly.

Eli groaned but pushed himself out of bed, wiping his sleepy eyes. He stumbled over to his dresser, pulling open a drawer and grabbing random clothes and putting them on. He combed through his untidy hair, watching in his mirror as the girl stood behind him and watched.

"Not going to get changed, Jules?" he asked her.

"Not going to apply your eyeliner?" she retorted as he stepped away from the mirror.

"Ha ha," Eli laughed dryly, and she flashed her bright teeth at him.

Eli grabbed his backpack off of his messy floor, slinging it over his shoulder before opening his bedroom door. He felt a cold hand take his, and he looked at her to see that she was still smiling.

"It'll be fine. You'll be fine," she assured him. "It's a fresh start."

"A fresh start," Eli echoed, and he brought a hand up to brush against her cheek. But before he could make contact, she pulled away with a giggle, bouncing over to the stairs.

"Come on, let's go! Hurry up now!" she called to him.

Eli sighed in frustration but followed her down the stairs, his feet making dull thudding noises every time they hit the carpeted stairs. He left the empty house and made his way out to his vintage hearse, which was parked in the driveway and shining from the wash down he had given it the day before. He pulled open the driver's side door for himself, but as usual, the girl slipped in before he could. Without acknowledging her, Eli slid in after her, slamming the door shut.

"Are you going to ignore me all day at school?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly in a questioning manner as Eli started up the hearse.

"I might. It all depends."

"Depends on what?" Her voice took on a hint of annoyance.

"If I actually feel like being social today," he told her as he pulled out of the driveway and began the dreaded drive to school.

She chuckled. "Then do me a favor and _don't _try to make friends with anybody, please."

"Don't worry - I don't intend to."

She frowned at him. "I was only playing, Eli. I do want you to meet people and make some friends. Why can't you do that?"

"Julia, I don't want to get into this," Eli told her, biting back a sigh.

Julia stared at him with agitation in her eyes. "You can't shut everybody else but me out. You need to talk to people and get back out into the world."

"I don't want to, okay?" Eli snapped at her, and Julia's lips pressed into a thin line. He waited a moment to calm down before saying slowly, "I'm perfectly content with just having you."

Julia sighed, and suddenly she looked much older and worn out. "I know, Eli. But you need other people in your life."

Eli didn't respond to her as he pulled up in front of a building that was certainly larger than his last school. Clusters of students were walking around along the sidewalk and in front of the school. Laughing girls were gathered on the stairs, and another large group of girls were gathered around a red pickup truck in front of the school. There were a few boys practicing with their skateboards in the streets, and school buses honked at them to move out of the way as they began to pull up in front of the school as well. Eli waited patiently for the buses to move before he drove through the gates of the school parking lot.

Eli tried to ignore the people gathered in the parking lot that cast him funny looks as he drove by as he searched for an empty spot. He could honestly care less about what people thought of him, but their reactions annoyed him immensely. Why did they even care so much about him or his choice of vehicle? Couldn't they just ignore him like he would ignore them?

"You make yourself pretty hard to be ignored," Julia pointed out.

"Be quiet," Eli muttered to her as he finally found an empty parking spot. He pulled into it carefully and then put the car in park. He grabbed his bag and then pushed open his door, climbing out. He waited a few seconds for Julia to slip out after him before closing it and looping his arm through the strap of his backpack.

"Nice ride, Emo Boy!" a loud voice called out to him, and both Eli and Julia glanced to the sound of the voice.

A boy with bristly hair was watching Eli through squinted eyes, and he had three friends surrounding him that laughed at his little joke.

"Thanks, but I only put out for girls," Eli yelled back, and Julia placed a hand over her mouth as she contained her giggles.

The boy's face flushed red in embarrassment, and then his hands balled into fists. "Oh, so you're looking to get beat up, huh?" he growled.

Eli shrugged. "Not right now, no. Maybe some other time though."

The bully's face turned even redder, but he watched, frozen, as Eli sauntered off, heading for the entrance to the school with Julia at his side.

Eli pushed open the glass doors of the school, and he looked around the crowded hallways until he located the office. He made his way over to it, jumping out of the way of a boy with curly black hair that was running past him. Eli glared after him before continuing his journey to the front desk.

Once he reached it, he glanced awkwardly at the secretary. She kept her eyes on her computer screen until Eli cleared his throat.

The red-haired lady looked up at him from behind her wire-rimmed glasses, and then looked back at the computer. "Yes?" she asked, tone slightly impatient.

Eli stared at her for a brief moment, wondering what her deal was before saying, "I'm Eli Goldsworthy. I transferred here and I, uh, need my class schedule."

The lady typed away on her computer for a moment before questioning him again. "Elijah Goldsworthy?"

Eli nodded, then remembered that she wasn't looking at him and replied, "Yes."

The secretary began typing faster on the keyboard, staring intensely at the computer screen as she clicked on the mouse a few times, eyes scanning the screen. Eli drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk, and the lady tried to hide the annoyance this caused her.

"Could she be any slower?" Julia complained.

"Sh," Eli hushed her, and the secretary shot him an odd, curious look.

The sound of a printer starting up filled Eli's ears along with the chatter of all of the talking students around him. He waited a few more seconds before the lady placed a form in front of him.

"We'll just need you to fill this out, and then I can give you your schedule," she told him before looking back at her computer screen.

Eli rolled his eyes but dutifully filled out the form, the entire time grumbling in his head about why he had to fill out even more forms when he was sure that his parents had done all of this for him. Once it was filled out, he pushed it back to the secretary, and she took it in her hands, looking it over. She nodded once, and then placed it in a folder and tucked it away into a cabinet. She then grabbed a few pieces of paper and passed them to Eli.

"Here is your schedule," she said, "and here is a map to help you find your way around school." She then reached across the desk and grabbed a few more papers. "These are lists of the classes here and who teaches what and which classroom they are in. Refer to this to help find your classes and learn about your teachers."

Eli took the papers from her, clutching them tightly in his hands and wondering to himself why he needed all of this paperwork.

"It's all a bunch of useless crap," Julia muttered.

Eli bit down on his lower lip to keep back a chuckle as the secretary passed him more 'useless crap.' Slowly, she began handing him text books, and Eli frowned, for he had been expecting to get these when he went to class and not here and now. He attempted to grab them all, piling them on top of his papers.

"And…that's it. Good luck on your first day." She gave him a tight, false smile, which Eli didn't bother to return as he struggled to collect all of his books. He picked them all up in his arms, surprised at their weight, and trudged down the hallway to find the locker he had been assigned.

"Wanna give me a hand?" Eli grunted, looking at Julia.

"Can't. Sorry!" she chirped, and Eli narrowed his eyes at her.

Loud ringing made Eli jump, and he let out a breath when he realized that it was only the bell. Julia's laughing rung in his ears, and he glared at her again.

"Will you just -?"

His question was cut off as he felt someone collide into him, and a gasp escaped his lips. Or maybe it wasn't from him, but from the girl standing before him. Eli's books and papers fell from his arms, scattering across the floor.

"Shit," he cursed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed as she hurried to bend down and pick up his things. "I didn't mean to -!"

Eli watched her stiffly, and Julia's eyes narrowed at the curly haired girl. "Maybe you should watch where you're going," he told her coldly, letting the girl gather his things for him. After all, it had been her fault that all of his things were currently on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, and she looked up at him as she rose to her feet again, his things in her arms now.

Eli's breath suddenly hitched in his throat as his eyes met her blue ones. The color was startling, and they were so clear that he could see his own surprised face in them. The girl's full lips were parted slightly, her own breathing coming a tad uneven as she took in the sight of him.

Eli cast a side-glance to his right to look at Julia, wanting to break his gaze with this girl, but he frowned when he noticed that Julia was absent. His head swiveled around as he tried to find her, his heart beating hard and quickly against his chest in panic. Where had she gone?

"I'm, um." The girl's anxious voice made Eli snap his head back to look at her. "I'm sorry, again. Um," she stuttered, holding his books and papers out to him.

Eli hastily snatched the things from her, attempting to take them all from her in one quick, fluid motion, but failing. "Don't apologize. You obviously weren't paying attention to the people around you, and you honestly probably don't care that you're wasting my time," Eli said to her, voice cool, hiding the anxiety.

"I really wasn't trying to - I was just running late and - I honestly didn't see you…" She fumbled for words, her thin fingers playing with the sleeve of her denim jacket.

"Whatever," Eli snapped. "Can you just go?"

A blush spread across her face, and she nodded quickly. "Y-yes, of course. I'm s-sorry, again," she said, backing away from him and thus going in the direction she had come from instead of heading for where she had originally been going. She seemed to realize after a moment that she was going the wrong way, and she ducked her head down and walked around Eli, avoiding his gaze as she quickened her pace in an attempt to get away from him.

Eli shook his head at her as he watched her go. He found himself filled with annoyance and agitation. He absolutely despised people like her; nervous and always apologizing, blaming everything on their self. Too…kind. It irked him for some reason.

"Have something against Jesus girl?" a higher key voice asked him.

Eli turned his head, expecting to see Julia, but was faced instead with a girl who almost looked scarily like her. The girl's head was cocked to the side slightly, her brown eyes looking back at him from behind the large lenses of her glasses. Her hair was done up in pigtails and she dawned a strange, patterned dress that went down to her knees. She wore spotted tights underneath and large combat boots over them. She tugged on the large, circular necklace dangling from around her neck as she awaited an answer.

"I don't even know her," Eli mumbled, beginning his quest to find his locker again.

The girl followed after him, trailing just a little behind him. "She's Clare Edwards, the resident Christian girl with a big brain. Probably the kindest, most innocent person you'll ever meet." The girl wrinkled her nose, and Eli kept back a laugh.

"Not somebody whose company you would prefer?" he assumed as he stopped in front of his locker.

"Not really. We're not friends, and I don't talk to her," she informed him. She glanced at him, then down at his books. "Here," she said, reaching forward and taking his books from him before he could protest. She grunted and shifted the books in her arms. Eli stared blankly at her, and she gave him a funny look. "Well, hurry up and open your locker. I'm not going to stand here and hold these all day for you."

Not even questioning her now, Eli pulled the slip of paper with his locker combination written on it out of his pocket. He mumbled the code out loud as he turned the dial, and then he pulled it open quickly. He reached forward and took the books back from the girl, piling them into his locker. Eli grabbed his schedule from her, and then took back out the books he needed and stuffed them in his backpack. He slammed the locker shut again and looked back at the girl, who was still standing there and watching him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Eli asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"From the looks of it, we have the same class for first, third, and seventh period," the girl chimed.

Eli's eyes bugged a little, wondering when she had found the time to figure this out. "Wait, excuse me, who are you?"

"Imogen Moreno, pleased to meet you. And you're Eli Goldsworthy, right?" She extended a hand, waiting for him to take it. After a minute, she let the hand drop again, frowning a little at him.

"How did you know that?" he asked warily.

"Your name was on your papers, of course," she answered him, as if it was obvious that she would have found out that way.

"Right, well…I should be getting to class," Eli said slowly, attempting to dodge around her.

"Oh, I'll just walk with you since we're going to the same class!" she exclaimed, a bright smile spreading across her face.

Eli sighed. "Okay, listen -"

"Hey, is this girl bothering you?"

Eli held back a groan as he heard another voice coming from behind him. All he wanted was to be left in peace, and then find Julia.

A younger-looking boy with short, clean-cut hair came up to them. He had round blue eyes, and was wearing a plaid button-down shirt and a beanie. A gray backpack was slung over one of his shoulders, and he wore a bemused expression.

"Oh Adam, be quiet. Nobody wants you here," Imogen said to him, but her tone was teasing.

"Ouch. I'm hurt. But who's your friend?" the new boy, Adam, asked as he assessed Eli.

"Friend?" Eli echoed in a confused tone.

"This is Eli. He has first period with us," Imogen told him eagerly. "We were just on our way to English right now."

"I might as well tag along then!" Adam said, smiling at them.

Eli finally gave up trying to avoid them. He could tell that neither of them intended on leaving him alone, and with his luck, they'd want to befriend him as well. "Let's go then, before we're late," Eli grumbled.

Imogen gave a little jump of excitement. "Great! Follow us!"

Adam and Imogen took the lead, and Eli let himself fall behind in an attempt to avoid conversation. Thankfully, they didn't notice that he was excluding himself from their chatter as they made their way through the hallways.

"I don't like that girl," a voice hissed to him.

Eli glanced up sharply to see Julia walking alongside him again, eyebrows furrowed and an angry expression on her face. "Who? Imogen?" Eli questioned, looking at the girl with the pigtails.

"No, the other one. The one who made me disappear," Julia told him.

"Wait, _made you_ disappear? What are you talking about?" Eli asked, stomach churning. He didn't like the idea of Julia disappearing ever.

"The girl with the curly hair and the blue eyes. When you looked at her, I suddenly found myself…no longer with you. I don't know what happened. But I don't want you around her. There's something peculiar about her," Julia told him quietly.

Eli snorted. "Don't worry. I wouldn't want to hang around her."

Julia smiled at him, and Eli couldn't help but notice that the smile seemed a little different - like it was less happy and cheerful and more…devilish almost. "Good," she purred. "But I definitely think you should make friends with those two." Julia nodded her head at Imogen and Adam, who were still walking ahead of them and talking amongst themselves. "They seem nice, and I believe they might share some of the same interests as you. Note the Dead Hand pin on Adam's backpack and the Escape The Fate wristband on Imogen's wrist."

Eli sought out these items and nodded his approval. "I'll consider friendship if they offer it then," he decided, even though there was still apart of him that believed he would be better off without anybody else.

"Hey," Julia said to him, and she placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, making him shudder. "Just talk to them, let them make you happy. You need friends here, Eli."

"But I…I don't want to neglect you," he whispered.

Julia smiled again, and this time Eli felt the warmth in it. "Oh, don't worry about that, you'll have plenty of time for me. Besides, I won't always leave you alone with them." Eli looked like he was going to protest further, so she quickly added. "Please, Eli. Do it for me."

Eli stared at her for a while, and then nodded.

"Okay. I'll do it for you."

**Author's Note: So, was what I said about it earlier right or wrong? What did you guys think of it? Should I continue? Review it and let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, I managed to get another chapter out in less than a month. Hurray! I hope you guys like it. :)**

2.

"I think Imogen likes you," Julia tells him as she lays sprawled upon his bed.

Eli turned to look down at her as he looped a belt through his jeans, buckling it and then pulling the pants up a little. "How can you tell?" Eli asked her.

"She's always so eager to please you and help you. It's kind of cute." Julia smirked to herself as she placed her hands on her cheeks and kicked her feet around in the air.

"I've known her for about three weeks, Jules," Eli pointed out. "I hardly think that's enough time to develop a crush."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Well you wouldn't know anything about that, now would you? You aren't a girl."

Eli sat down on the edge of his bed. "All right then, tell me, how long did it take for _you_ to like me in that way?"

Julia put a finger to her chin, thinking about it. "I would say…half way through our relationship." She smirked at him playfully.

"Oh, ha ha. You're hysterical."

"Anyway, back to the topic of her liking you! You're leading her on by doing this, you know," Julia pointed out, reverting the subject back.

Eli rose an eyebrow. "I'm going out to get pizza with her _and _Adam, because apparently we're 'friends.' How is that leading her on?"

Julia opened her mouth to reply, then closed it with a frown. "Well, just make sure you treat her in only a friendly manner. You and me both know that you tend to act more flirtatious with girl friends."

Eli's eyebrow rose higher. "I do? And how many girl friends have I had again?"

"Just me," Julia replied, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Exactly. Therefore, your point is invalid." Eli grabbed his leather jacket off of his door and pulled it on. The weather had already grown cold out, even though they were still in September. It just proved how cold Canada really was.

Julia jumped up from the bed, giving a little bounce. Eli kept in a chuckle and opened his bedroom door. They made their way down the stairs and out to his hearse, going through their usual routine of filing into it. He found the pizzeria they were supposed to be meeting at easily, and he parked out front of it. He and Julia climbed out of the hearse, and Eli ignored the odd stares he was getting as he walked into the pizza place, holding open the door for Julia.

As he scoped the room for Adam and Imogen, he heard Julia grumble, "Great. She's here."

Confused, Eli followed her stare to where the Clare Edwards girl was sitting with a stocky looking boy, both of them laughing, her blue eyes sparkling. The boy placed a hand on hers, and her cheeks automatically flushed with color. The sight sparked an annoyance in Eli, and he didn't know why he grew infuriated by the sight of them.

"Goldsworthy!" a sing-songy voice called.

Eli turned around in the direction of the voice and saw Imogen standing up slightly in her seat, waving at him while Adam hid his face in embarrassment. Eli smirked and made his way over to them, Julia trailing after him.

Imogen sat back down beside Adam and cast a glance at the boy. "Oh, you need to stop. You know that's not even remotely embarrassing considering everything else I've done," she teased.

"Touché," Adam muttered, and his hands fell back onto the table.

Eli chuckled at them. "Looks like you guys ordered without me," he remarked, gesturing to the cheese and sausage pizza in the middle of the table.

"Sorry, dude. We were starved." Adam gave him a sheepish grin as he reached for a slice of pizza.

"Be glad we didn't start eating without you. Adam would have eaten the entire pie before you got here." Imogen's tone was dead serious, but there was a playful glint in her eyes.

"What, this scrawny guy?" Eli commented incredulously, and Adam shot him a mock glare before taking a large bite out of his pizza slice.

"You'd be surprised how much he can eat in one sitting," Imogen told him with a nod, taking a small bite out of her piece of pizza.

Eli laughed and grabbed himself a slice, eating it in silence as Imogen and Adam continued to share small playful banter. He glanced at Julia, curious to see if she would take a slice for herself, though he knew she never ate; at least, not around him.

Julia had been watching him the whole time, staring at him with unblinking brown eyes. There was a strange look in her eyes, a shadow of something Eli didn't recognize, and her body seemed slightly tense. They held each other's gazes for awhile, Julia's stiff body not moving.

Eli frowned a little at her, and he brought his voice down as low as he could. "Is there something wrong?"

Julia shook her head a little, her untidy black hair quivering a little when she did so. Eli could tell she was lying, but he didn't want to question her more in front of Adam and Imogen.

Eli turned his head back to look at his friends to find that they had gone quiet now and were watching him curiously, Adam chewing on his second slice of pizza.

Eli rose his eyebrows. "What?" he asked, voice tinged with annoyance.

Imogen looked down at the pizza in her hands, and Adam simply looked away as he took another bite out of his own slice.

A nervous feeling bubbled in Eli's stomach, and he finished off his slice of pizza, then sipping at a glass of soda in hopes of settling his stomach.

Adam cleared his throat, looking back at Eli. "So. Anybody catch your interest at Degrassi?" He wore an enthusiastic grin, and Eli was surprised by how easily Adam had forgotten about his odd behavior.

Imogen's face flushed a little, and she sipped awkwardly at her glass of pop, her eyes shifting back and forth from her cup to her plate. She seemed embarrassed by the question for some reason, even though it wasn't directed at her, and Adam looked smug about being able to make her feel the way she did.

Eli shrugged, though he knew that he really wasn't looking for a relationship, and therefore paid no attention to the girls at school. "Not really," he answered truthfully.

"Oh…Are none of them 'your type'?" Adam asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I have a type?" Eli responded.

"I don't know. It could be the broodiness and the black clothes that make me believe you wouldn't be into girls such as…" Adam looked around the pizzeria. "…Clare Edwards."

Imogen's slightly red face paled, and out of the corner of his eye, Eli noticed Julia's jaw lock. He didn't understand why they reacted the way they did; Clare was just a girl that kept getting mentioned. She didn't mean anything to any of them, as far as he knew.

Eli let his eyes fall on the girl they were speaking of. He assessed her happiness, the way her curls bounced when she laughed, and how her white teeth seemed to flash when she smiled. He noted the way she was staring at the plaid clad boy, and his lip curled a little.

"No, she's probably not somebody I would be interested in," Eli replied, turning back to Adam. "And it seems that guys like me aren't her type either."

"Yes, it seems Clare Edwards is into douche bag jocks, such as Jake Martin and K.C. Guthrie," Imogen piped up, back to her usual, informative self.

Eli tilted his head to the side questioningly, and Imogen explained, "K.C. is a basketball and football loving bad boy. He knocked up Jenna Middleton, the perky blonde on Power Squad. He and Clare dated before that happened, though. And the guy she's with right now, Jake, is the resident player. He's the outdoorsy type, and I bet he could be an excellent footballer if he was just a bit more into actual sports. Though I'm sure he considers banging all of those girls a sport -"

"Imo!" Adam exclaimed, cutting her off.

Imogen shrugged. "I'm just saying."

A bemused expression crossed Eli's face. "Why is Saint Clare going out with a guy like that?" he questioned, using the nickname Imogen tended to use for the girl.

"She's probably one of those dirty Christian girls that is desperate to lose her virginity, but nobody will take it from her," Julia muttered. "So she went to the player who will fuck everybody and anybody."

Eli shot her a look, and she shrugged uncaringly.

"I think she wouldn't know a good guy even if he was standing right in front of her," Adam commented.

"Feeling bitter?" Imogen teased.

"What are you talking about? Am not!" Adam snapped.

Imogen smirked and looked at Eli. "He had a bit of a crush on her last year, but he's been too shy to talk to her, and she doesn't even know he exists."

Eli gave him a pitying look. "Aw, poor Adam. Sorry, bro."

Adam scowled. "She's not really that great anyway."

"Yeah. She's a high class whore looking to get fucked by every guy at the school," Julia remarked.

Eli's hands gripped the table tightly, and he stood up. Adam and Imogen looked at him strangely, and Julia stared at her nails, picking at her cuticles.

"I don't feel too good. I'll be back in a second," Eli explained to his friends before forcing Julia to get out of the booth so he could get out as well. He gestured for Julia to follow him and made his way over to the bathroom. He pushed open the door, holding it open and waiting for Julia to go in.

Julia wrinkled her nose. "Uh, I'm not going in there with you."

Eli sighed in exasperation and let the door close. He turned to face her, and he stared at her for awhile. She rose her eyebrows at him, folding her arms over chest.

"What?" she asked, irritated.

"What is your problem?" Eli demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Julia answered dryly.

"Why are you judging that girl if you don't even know her?"

"Why are you defending her if you don't even know her?" Julia retorted.

"Because what you're saying is completely uncalled for and basically slander," Eli informed her.

"Well, it's not like anybody can hear me but you," she sneered.

Eli shifted his weight to his right leg uneasily. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do, Eli. Come on. Why do we play this game? We all know that only you can see me. And we know why that is."

"What are you talking about?" Eli snarled loudly. "You're talking crazy shit again."

"_I'm _talking crazy? I am not crazy, Eli. I'm dead," Julia told him bluntly, not flinching at his tone.

Pain flashed across Eli's face, and memories swarmed his thoughts, filling his vision. Tears stung in his eyes, and he shook his head. "Stop it, Jules. You're right here. You're with me."

"Excuse me?" a quiet voice called, and Eli whipped his head in surprise to look at this new voice as Julia let out a soft gasp. Eli blinked at the girl, and her blue eyes surveyed his face for a moment.

"I was just…I was coming to use the bathroom…and I heard you." Clare took a cautious step towards his frozen form. She leaned in a little closer to him, her blue orbs staring into his green ones. She automatically noticed the tiny tears at the corners of his eyes, and she frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," Eli muttered, breaking their gazes and looking past her.

Julia was nowhere to be found again.

"Well, when I heard you, you sounded really upset. And you don't look very happy either," Clare remarked.

"I said I'm fine," Eli snapped, and the girl took a step back.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I just - you sounded really - I'm sorry for prying -"

"Stop apologizing," Eli growled, feeling annoyed. He held his forehead in one of his hands, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Who were you talking to?" Clare whispered after a minute. She didn't see anybody around, and she hadn't seen anybody come or go from the bathrooms either.

"None of your business. Why don't you stop pestering me and go back to your boyfriend?" Eli suggested.

Clare blushed, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. "J-Jake? Oh no, he's not my boyfriend. We're just friends…" She trailed off, biting her bottom lip a little to silence herself.

Eli snorted. "Yeah, right."

An indignant look crossed Clare's face, and her hands clenched into fists. "I wasn't lying," she told him.

Eli raised an eyebrow at her. "Whatever. Are you going to go use the bathroom now, like you intended on doing, or are you going to keep wasting my time?"

Clare's face flushed darker, a bit in anger and embarrassment. "Maybe if you moved, then I could get into the bathroom and stop 'wasting your time,'" Clare said dryly.

Eli scowled at her but sidestepped away from the door to the girls' bathroom, watching her through narrowed eyes as she scooted past him. He jumped when he felt her warm hand accidentally brush against his. A gasp escaped her lips, and she looked up at his face. Their gazes locked, and Eli shivered involuntarily. He didn't like the way she looked at him. He felt as if she was searching for something in him, trying to figure him out when he didn't want to be understood by anybody.

Eli let his face go impassive again, building back up the walls she had managed to break down in those brief seconds. Clare frowned at him again, and Eli was surprised to see the disappointment shining in her eyes. She held his gaze again for another second, hoping for a reaction or maybe a goodbye from him, but when nothing happened, she bit back a sigh and pushed open the door, retreating into the bathroom.

Eli shook his head, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath as he returned to his seat.

Imogen and Adam both looked up at him as he sat back down, watching him as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey, we thought you'd flushed yourself down the toilet or something. You okay?" Adam asked.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine," Eli assured him, nodding his head.

Imogen and Adam picked up the conversation they had begun while Eli was away again, and Eli stayed quiet, occasionally sipping at his drink. He couldn't focus on anything that they were saying. All he could hear in his head were Julia's cold words, and he flinched as they repeated again, louder and clearer.

Julia was normally bubbly and sweet. Her personality was similar to Imogen's, Eli had found. But Julia had brought out a different side of herself tonight, and it disturbed and worried him. The last thing he wanted was for Julia to hate him and leave him for good.

The panic bubbled up inside of his chest at the very thought that Julia could be gone forever now, his breathing picking up. He knew how things had ended the last time they had argued, and Eli couldn't imagine having to live through the torture of losing her again.

Suddenly, a pair of blue eyes were swimming across his vision, and a stuttering, soft voice played in his head. The feeling of somebody's warm skin brushing against his was the only thing he could feel, and he found his breathing evening out again.

Why was he thinking about that girl? She was annoying, and a goody-two shoes. Eli hated her, he hated everything about her.

So why was the thought of her canceling out his worries about Julia?


End file.
